Thursday, April 24, 2014

World Penguin Day

A message from ASOC's executive director, Mark Epstein, on World Penguin Day

On the eve of a major global celebration by civil society of
World Penguin Day and the start of the 37th annual Antarctic Treaty
Commission Meeting, I am reminded of a personal experience from long ago. In
January 1989, a colleague and I led a group of Environmental Defense Fund
supporters on what was to be an exciting three-week exploration of the Antarctic
Peninsula, as well as sub-Antarctic islands. The week began uneventfully (other
than the challenge of crossing Drake Passage, among the roughest seas in the
world).

The first week, while enjoying a beautiful Antarctic summer
with temperatures typically over 35 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, we visited
rookeries of Magellanic, Gentoo and Adelie penguins, swam in the thin band of
acceptable waters by Deception Island (where freezing Antarctic seas met the
simmering waters of the post-volcanic island and encountered orcas, leopard
seals and sea lions as we steamed to the farthest passable waters of Lemaire
Channel.

On January 28, 1989, the calm was broken by the loud,
chaotic sounds of a mayday call. The
Argentine polar supply ship, the Bahia
Paraiso, was sinking after hitting ice pinnacles. This occurred less than a
mile away from Torgersen Island, home to approximately 9,000 pairs of Adelie
penguins. The disaster occurred after the vessel had brought provisions to
Palmer Station, a US research station on Anvers Island near the Antarctic
Peninsula.

The pictures below, though blurry, provide a sense of the
proximity of Torgersen Island and the clear threat to the Adelie penguins who
were in the middle of nesting season, swimming through badly polluted waters to
feed their hungry chicks. The other shot provides an unsettling view of the
growing oil slick and an abandoned barrel of oil (there were many) freely
floating in the Southern Ocean.

The weather was beautiful so there was no risk to human
life. However, our hearts were broken as oil spread towards the penguins, a pod
of whales swimming nearby unknowingly and many other creatures living in what
had been an almost pristine area. As environmentalists, we also understood that
this was just the beginning as the Bahia
Paraiso continued to sink. The vessel has remained in the Southern Ocean to
this day, leaking oil and posing threats still being researched by
scientists. My videotape of the events
of the day was brought to the world by CNN two weeks later (remember no smart
phones or easy satellite uplinks then).

I also have video (that has not been released) includes a
the chief scientist at Palmers Station bitterly complaining about the Bahia Paraiso’s crew, their lack of
planning and willingness to ignore clear maps marking the seas they entered as
dangerous. The photos below, and more strikingly the video I hope to share
later this year, shows just how threatened thousands of baby Adelie chicks were
and the almost complete lack of preparation on the part of the Bahia Paraiso for an incident that should
have been prevented, but also an accident that should have been prepared for by
any vessel in the pristine waters of the Southern Ocean.

As the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition works with
members across the world to celebrate World Penguin Day, I also hope this will
activate readers to sign the AOA petition (accessible through our homepage or
at www.antarcticocean.org) and get
activated in the coming months as we work to protect penguins and thousands of
other Antarctic species through the creation of new marine protected areas
(MPAs) in East Antarctica and the Ross Sea, and finalize a Polar Code that
should ensure vessels like the Bahia
Paraiso are NEVER AGAIN allowed into the Southern Ocean without adequate
structures and planning. The importance of penguins and fragility of the
pristine wilderness of Antarctic and the Southern Ocean should be taken to
heart by all the peoples of the world.

Caption: (photo w slick) Oil slick and a floating barrel of
oil just hours after the Bahaia Paraiso started
to sink. For over 25 years, the Bahia Paraiso has remained submerged with the
long term damage still being assessed.

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The opinions expressed on this blog are those of ASOC staffers and do not necessarily represent the opinions of ASOC. Opinions asserting that penguins are adorable are, of course, shared by all sensible human beings.